Through his art, Francisco Goya relayed his feelings toward the political unrest that plagued Spain during his lifetime. As an artist of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Goya lived through a time of political and social upheaval, especially throughout Europe. At the time, the ideas of the Enlightenment had captivated the minds of Spain’s most influential citizens and soon, that of Goya’s. Born in Fuendetodos, Spain, in 1746, Francisco Goya came from very humble beginnings. As the son of a gilder, Goya grew up in the lower class of society, and even after his amazing success as court painter to Spanish royalty, he highly identified himself with the everyday Spaniard or majo. It is this very bond to the people that followed him throughout his life and career. Later, Goya’s portraits, drawings, etchings, and paintings would reflect an internal division that overcame him as his fame and fortune increased. Despite his future camaraderie with the Spanish elite, Goya’s early works often depicted the upper class as somewhat artificial or masked. In fact, this masked-ness is a motif in many of Goya’s works. The contrast between classes is illustrated throughout his tapestry cartoons. These cartoons accurately depict Spanish men and women doing a range of things from enjoying leisurely activities, working, and carrying out very Spanish traditions. Although Goya had a profound connection to his majos and majas, he also shared the beliefs of enlightened thinkers of the times. Figures like Jovellanos, minister to king Charles III, appealed to the other side of Goya. Jovellanos and other Spanish reformers would later be his patrons and comrades and they certainly did not advocate a traditional Spain or for the traditional views of the majevos. Goya’s artistic talents catapulted him to the top of his craft, however he did not forget his origins. Through his art alone, he illustrated the lives of Spaniards both rich and poor in a and time of struggle and democratic revolution, and captured the utter brutality and stupidity of war.

Goya’s tapestry cartoons, executed in the late 1780’s and early 1790’s, were highly praised for their candid views of everyday Spanish life. At the time, Goya had not yet begun moving in the circles of royal patronage, instead, his attention was on the average men and women of Spain and their lifestyles. This was the most important period in his artistic development. As a tapestry designer, Goya found his style as an artist and learned to paint freely. The experience helped him become a keen observer of human behavior. His study of the works of his predecessor, Velazquez, in the royal collection, would later result in a looser, more spontaneous painting technique. In 1778, Goya painted his popular piece, The Blind Guitarist. This cartoon depicts class separation with the light illuminating on the aristocrats and the villagers cast off to the side and illustrated as shadows.

By the mid-1780's, Goya had begun painting the world around him. In his collection, The Four Seasons, bucolic scenes of spring, summer and fall along with peasants trudging through a winter snowstorm, depict a monumental style with fewer figures more clearly delineated compared to the earlier cartoons. Spring and fall have clearly aristocratic overtones. In Spring, a woman of noble demeanor accepts flowers offered by a kneeling woman whose figure is derived from one of the maids. In Autumn, a man and a woman hold a bunch of grapes; a symbol of fertility and fidelity, confirmed by the young child. The child is clearly the offspring of the noble couple rather than the peasant woman because of his attire, a one-piece suit that recalls the one depicted in Goya's portrait of Don Manuel Oserio in 1788. The women at the center of both these pieces seem to have more in common with the aristocrats in Goya's portraits of these years than with the stereotypical women who populated the cartoons he executed before 1780. The harsher...

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE DOCUMENTS HELPFUL

...2014
Research Paper
Goya: The life and Work of the Spanish Painter
In the world created by Francisco Jose De Goya y Lucientes there existed no boundaries.
Through much of Goya’s artistic body of work we can see diversity, mystery and honesty fueled
entirely by his attitude. He is greatly known for his enriched paintings, etchings and lithographs,
which he did excessively, dramatically and emotionally. He left no stone unturned in terms of
portraying society at the time. The biggest influence to him was the dark and bright side of
human nature to which he used frequently as his subject matter. He shed a new light on 18th
and 19th century Romanticism, paving way for impressionists and expressionists. He left apart of
himself in every one of his pieces, helping us to truly understand the man behind the art.
Although his place in the arts is debatable, his work was ahead of his time, and lured in many
for a life enhancing participative experience.
Much of what surrounded Goya during his early life plays a pivotal role into what shaped him,
and encouraged his first major steps as an artist in his later adult years. Goya was born in the
small village of Fuendetodos Aragon, Spain on March 30, 1749. Although, he spent most of his
humble childhood in the larger city of Saragossa, Spain. Goya’s family included his father Jose...

...Francisco de Goya was born in Fuendetodos, Spain on March 30, 1746. His dad was a painter, and his mom came from a noble family. Theres not a lot
of information about his childhood. He went to school in Zaragoza at the Escuelas Pias. He started his actual art education when he was 14, when he was chosen to be an apprentice to Jose Luzan. Who was a talented but little known painter. Francisco spent 4 years apprenticing with Jose Luzan.Francisco went to Madrid in 1763 because he hoped to win a prize at the Academy of san Fernando. He ended up not winning but he did meet Francisco Bayeu. He had a great affect on Francisco Goya's early style of painting, he also was responsible for Goya's participation in the fresco decoration of the Church of the Virgin in El Pilar in Zaragoza.
Goya returned to Spain about 1773 and participated in several other fresco projects, including that for the Charterhouse of Aula Dei, near Zaragoza, in 1774. There paintings prefigure those of his greatest fresco project, which was executed in the Church of San Antonio de la Florida, Madrid, in 1798. It was during this time that Goya began to do prints after paintings by Velázquez, who would remain, along with Rubens and Rembrandt, Goya's greatest source of inspiration.
By 1786 Goya was working in an official capacity for King Charles III, certainly the most...

...Francisco de Goya
El Sueño de la Razón Produce Monstruos
Francisco de Goya can rightly be registered as one of the three geniuses in Spanish painting i.e. the third master along-side with El Greco and Velasquez. Francisco de Goya produced most of his masterpieces between the 1760s and 1828 and with his works of art he is already the forerunner of the trends and tendencies so typical of the 20th century and it is far from being surprising that he is considered to be the predecessor of modern trends in painting like expressionism and surrealism.
His paintings, etchings, drawings and his graphics can be characterised with their diversity both in their topics and artistic means. This richness in themes leads to a wide variety of topics ranging from joyful festivities through royal portraits to battle scenes and dead bodies.
There is a marked shift in his choice of themes and this gradual change can be viewed as an accompanying phenomenon of his physical degradation since the great affliction in his life, his deafness, caused him to turn to themes depicting more and more gloom and despair. His general mood must have become darker and darker in the course of time as it is reflected in his pieces of art.
On approaching the end of his life he painted frightening pictures about mad and sick people and about strange and freak figures. The style of...

...1808 by Francisco de Goya |
The painting: The Third of May, 1808
On 2nd of May 1808, when the Napoleon’s army invaded Madrid, the citizens of Madrid revolted against them. The French army took revenge on the citizens of Madrid on the following day, 3rd of May 1808, by executing hundreds of the rebellions along with the innocents.
Goya illustrated this horrifying event in his painting The third of May, 1808. On the left side of the painting is a man in white kneeling with his arms held up into the air as if surrendering to the executioners. Besides him stand several other rebellions and innocents, some covering their faces in fear of death while others stand by the man in white. The ugliness of this particular day is depicted by the pool of blood from the dead bodies. The lantern and the dark sky show that this was an event that took place at night. The executioners stand in a row on the right side of the painting, each of them holding a rifle ready to shoot the rebellions. Altogether the painting depicts how scary and ugly night it was, with all those death of the innocents and rebellions likewise, they seem to have no option but surrender themselves to the bullets of the French army and embrace death. The painting also shows the cruelty and horrors faced by the citizens of Madrid in the hands of the Napoleons Army.
The Third of May, 1808 (also known as El tres de mayo de 1808 en Madrid) is now in the Museo del Prado,...

...Chelsea Bryant
Period 3
The Mind of a Madman
Francisco Jose de Goya (1746-1828) Yard with Lunatics, 1794 Oil on canvas
Goya started discovering art at a young age. He was born to José Benito de Goya y Franque, a gilder, and Gracia de Lucientes y Salvador. Francisco spent his childhood in Fuendetodos, Spain then later moved to Zaragoza. He often moved, mastering art along the way. In 1773 Goya married Josefa Bayeu. Over a period of five years he had painted about 42 designs. His popularity began to lead him into an entire world of art. During the middle of his career, Goya often painted for royalty. He had reached his peak of popularity with the noble ones. However between late 1792 and early1793, a serious illness, whose exact nature is not known, left Goya deaf, and he became withdrawn. During his recuperation, he undertook a series of experimental paintings. He turned to more manageable and more personal projects, perhaps inspired by works from abroad that he had seen while in Cadiz. His small pictures of 1793-4 introduce a new era in his art, and it was now that his style began to emerge. Many of his scenes depict bullfighting, intense, haunting themes, reflective of the artist's fear of insanity, and his outlook on humanity. Although these themes can be seen in many of his paintings, I believe “Yard with Lunatics” depicts his style the best.
Yard...

...I have found the realism arts to be very fascinating. The three pieces of art that I will be discussing are Francisco Goya's The Third of May, 1808 oil on canvas 8ft 9 in. x 13ft 4in, Eugene Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, 1830 oil on canvas 8 ft 6 3/8 in. x 10ft. 8 in. and Honore Daumier, Fight between Schools, Idealism and Realism, 1855 Caricature
The painting The Third of May, by Francisco de Goya, was done to commemorate the events of that took place during the Napoleonic Wars in Madrid, Spain on May 2 and 3 1808. The painting sets the scene of a man about to be killed by a firing squad. The bodies of those who have already been killed are scattered around him, and those that wait to be killed stand in line behind him. The ground is covered in blood from those who have already been executed. The sky in the background is black, with the outline of a convent on the horizon. "Goya uses his art to make his statement that war of any kind produces no good". (www.arthistory.net)
The people waiting to be killed are not as prominent as the man facing death at the moment. Their emotions seem to be of fear and sadness. They are all grouped together crying, focused on themselves rather than exhibiting the bravery that the man about to be killed is. They are all covering their faces, which seems to represent their need to hide themselves from the fate which is awaiting them. They are not as willing to accept...

...4/16/11
FranciscoGoya, The Third of May, 1808 p.327
Visual Elements
A.Line-There are actual lines in this painting from the rifles toward the man holding his hands up. When looking at this painting you view quickly from the right to the left and can almost feel the inevitable execution. There is also a line in the sand separating the light from the dark. Seems to be imply between the good of the Spaniards who are about to be executed, from the evil hooded men who are shooting.
I believe that there is an implied line between the end of the gun and the man with his arms up. It is giving an action that you can almost feel the gunshot from the barrel executing the man. Especially how when looking from right to left it goes from dark to light, like the gun has been fired.
B.)Shape-The geometric shape of the lantern stands out to me right away. Its rectangular shape and the triangle shape of the light which it creates draw my eye in this painting. It seems to paint a positive light on the people that are about to be executed. There are many more geometric shapes in this painting than organic.
The organic shapes that I see are the rounded hill in the background and the contours that are created in the sand. These two in the painting are good examples of biomorphic shapes.
C.)Mass-The mass is implied here and is created by the forms of the captives. They seem to go in all directions here with their arms and the way each is bent. It...

...Francisco Goya’s The Third of May 1808 (c.1814) is a responsive painting that was intended to honor those who suffered from the occupation of Napoleons army during the Peninsula War in Spain. This large 8in x 9in oil on canvas painting is used to represent the art of Goya, and depict the valor of Spanish revolutionary war. The influences on this piece, as well as its characteristics and influence on later work will be examined. The painting reflects the turmoil during the time period, and contains many aesthetic and emotional qualities that make it relevant in art history; the painting is one of the finest displays of Goya’s abilities.
Goya who lived from (1746 – 1828) was regarded as one of the most (if not the important Romantic artist. He underwent a major transition in his life that reflected on his work. During his early career he was much more optimistic toward humanity. This optimism is evident in his early artwork that consisted of bright pastel colors (1). In his later work (including the time when The Third of May was being painted) his subject matter became much darker and dejected. This dark subject matter reflected Goya’s physical and mental ailments, his disappointment in the French brutality against the Spanish, and his “diminished hope for human progress” (3).
The story behind The Third of May is one of brutality and malice. After Napoleon invaded Spain, he set his brother in place of the Spanish Monarch. The...